Mass Effect 3: The Last Stand
by CommanderFlynn
Summary: We all knew the Reapers were coming but when the invasion started, none of us were prepared for it. 7 Chapters looking into one Special forces soldiers' fight for survival.
1. Prologue

Mass Effect 3: The Last Stand

War…War isn't fair. It's an angry, unnatural force that can tear through the heart of men and woman in an instance and leaving nothing but blood and death in its wake. Many of us in the Alliance never knew a proper war, the only fighting we saw were small skirmishes with the occasional group of Batarian raiders on our out-lying colonies. When Sheppard started his fight against the Geth, That's when things got lively for the alliance.

For me, things were very lively. Originally I was just like every other grunt in the military. You know the whole laying down your life for a community of strangers. For a while things were quiet. After the first geth attack on Eden Prime the higher-ups must have gotten spooked to order the mass movement of troops to the other human settlements. I was stationed on a small colony along with my Bioticly adept sister, Karin and as anyone could guess in a cliché holovid, it was attacked.

I don't know how I managed to survive the onslaught of geth. I simply picked up a nearby sniper rifle and shot down as many as I could. Karin did her best with her biotics but eventually she was overwhelmed trying to save a small family. After that and the attack on the Citadel word had someone gotten out about the attack and my…"abilitiy" with the rifle and was quickly rushed into the training programme for the special forces division. I had just finished the training and reached the proficiency of N6 when Sheppard has destroyed a Mass Relay, killing millions in Batarian lives to stop "The Reapers" from emerging.

I'm not sure what the committee is doing about the Reaper threat. Shepard has made no attempt to keep the thing from getting out to the Alliance Military and for a while now, we've been preparing the defences for such an invasion and I've been keeping an eye on my training for awhile. But I don't think anything could prepare me for such an invasion when it eventually comes around…

I pray that it isn't soon.

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><p>I'm a huge Mass Effect fan. I'm trying to get some time aside to get through the main two games again for a file just for ME3 and I've been looking around at a ton of the videos and played the demo god knows how many times. I felt like I had to do this.<p>

So please, enjoy and stay tuned ^_^


	2. The Invasion Begins

**The Invasion Begins**

Flynn Silvers was your average military soldier. He was skilled with a sniper and just as good with a pistol and rifle. He won top marks during his special forces training, missing out on a few minor things that granted him the rank N6 just shy of the higher level of N7. Currently, he was on the balcony of his apartment, reading a holopad of information about the recent events on Earth. Despite the Alliance's best efforts, the news about the mass mobilisation of the fleet had been published to the public. The on-screen video showing one of the Alliances most proud and fear battle cruisers. Not as big or formidable as the more technologically advanced Destiny Accession but in human standards, it's the best ship they have.

He couldn't help but wonder though. It was no secret among the N Special Forces that the reason their training was so intense lately was due to the Reaper treat. If they really were a race of synthetic machines over 50,000 years old that were hell bent on the destruction of galactic civilisation, what hope could the Alliance fleet have when they weren't as shielded as some of the Turian cruisers? His mind turned to the battle of the Citadel and the Reaper Sovereign. That ship had decimated the combined fleets of the Alliance, Turian and Asari and even now everyone was still rebuilding the ships that they had lost. The coming days would be one of hardship that he would have to endure.

His hazel coloured eyes turned to the view that the balcony offered him of Earth. The beautiful view of the buildings was one he really couldn't put into words. He was lucky to have kept this apartment despite the ways things stood due to the Reaper threat. Taxes had been raised in order to fund the military in an attempt to build up the defences but thanks to his position he was able to live in the apartment…alone. It wasn't always alone. He did live with his biotic sister Karin but she was killed during an attack on a colony during the time of the first attack on Eden Prime. He was the only one to attend to her funeral while on duty of course and as expected, the committee wasn't too happy he did that. They had never seen eye to eye on various issues but Flynn could respect the committee for doing what they do.

A ringing tone broke him out of his thoughts and located the source as his phone inside the apartment. He stood up and stretched out. His light brown hair rippled gently in the breeze. He walked inside the apartment and ignored the TV image of the news and picked up his communicator. "Flynn here."

"_Lieutenant Commander Silvers? This is Admiral Anderson"_

Flynn was taken off guard. Why was the Admiral calling him on an open channel and his personal communicator? "Sir, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"_This isn't a social call. Your CO is with the fleet over the planet. We need you suited up and ready to move out on a moment's notice. You'll meet up with Captain Flux in an hour"_

Flynn sighed just after the line clicked shut. It was meant to be his day off today but he supposed he could let it slide. He walked over to his bedroom and put on his pistol holster for his M3 predator. Then covered it up with a dark blue jacket and body warmer and threw on a pair of jogging bottoms. Making sure that everything was turned off he left his apartment and locked up.

He wouldn't know that it was going to be the last time he would step inside his room. Or simply have another relaxing day doing nothing but watching the news and reading.

**VVVV**

It had taken him just under half an hour to reach the Alliance base where he was stationed at via a cab he took through the large towering buildings. Below him hundreds of people were going about their daily lives; shopping, meeting up with friends and getting up to no good. They didn't have to deal with the day to day activity of keeping them safe. It was his and countless others jobs to do that and he intended to do just that.

Touching down just outside of the base and he amazed to see so much activity going on. Tons of marines were running back inside the base and out constantly, transporting goods, trying to catch up with their CO. He hadn't seen so much activity since the time of the battle at the Citadel where the fleet was mobilised in record time. Weaving his way through the crowds and into the base (which was just as busy and packed) He cut his way through into one of the various locker rooms reserved for the Special Forces. Compared to the hectic scene in the corridor the locker rooms were quiet and peaceful. The entire locker room consisted of large lockers around the edge of the room, each one big enough to house a full set of armour and weapons. Only one other occupant was in the room, sorting out her N7 armour and Locust SMG.

"Bout time you made it Flynn. I was worried you'd miss out on all the fun." She spoke in an almost too happy tone and a grin on her face. Her bright green eyes flashed out at him.

Flynn only smiled and walked over to his locker and opened it up, his armour and weapons staring back at him. A Kuwashii Visor, standard issue for most sniper units started to look and sat ontop an Aegis vest chest-piece. His shoulder pieces were part of a proto-type Asymmetric Defence Layer piece that he had acquired from a dying friend months earlier. On his left arm was an ammo pack. He was glad he put that particular attachment on as he couldn't even begin to count the times that the spare ammo has saved his life and finally the standard issue greaves completed the look. To the side the M97-Viper stood upright to the left side of the armour and a M96 Mattock rifle stood to the other side of the armour. "And miss out on all the fun Roxy? Not on your life."

Roxy giggled and placed an Avenger Assault Rifle on her back, the rifle folding up automatically and resting on the magnetic holster on her back. "Have you heard? Scanners have picked up something big approaching Luna base. Hackett has mobilised the fleet."

Flynn nodded awhile clipping on his greaves. "I thought something was up. You don't call me on a day off for no reason. Have you told Serah and the others to find transport off world?" Serah was one of the few people he could call family because they had known each other for so long.

"Yep. But the spaceports are having problems. Could be engine problems but I highly doubt that." Roxy muttered while placing her helmet under her arm and closing her locker.

Flynn shot a glance at her while attaching his arm armour pieces and returned to fiddling with the various bindings. "You think it's the Reapers causing it?"

Roxy looked back at him. "And why not? A race of hyper-advanced machines that are over 50,000 years old, anything that is in the realm of the impossible could be child's play to them. Disabling ships at a long distance? Yeah, I'm sure it's them." She took out a small blue headband and wrapped up her brown hair in a small pony-tail so the helmet would fit and no hair would stick out underneath it.

Flynn nodded and placed his weapons on his back, letting them fold up in position before closing his locker and placing his visor on his head. He didn't want to believe that the day of the Reaper invasion was upon them but he would do his duty like every other soldier. "You might be right…who are you reporting to?"

"Captain Ararius. Most, if not all higher ranking officers and CO's have been transferred to the fleets to help them up there." Roxy explained.

"Alright. Remember the old frequency we used back during the spec ops training? I'll keep that one under monitoring. If you need me, give me a shout and I'll see what I can do." Flynn offered and smiled, extending a hand.

Roxy smiled and nodded then placed her helmet on. "Thanks Flynn and good luck." She shook his hand and walked off through the other door.

**VVVV**

Flynn had once again picked his way through the crowd of Alliance soldiers, now fully geared and ready for action and walked into one of the many elevators that were packed full of soldiers trying to get up to the higher levels for briefings. He hadn't notice it earlier but it seemed as if the base was darker than before, like a large cloud hanging over it and everyone had a look of terror on their face as if they knew the worst was coming. Opening the door He saw a figure standing in the N7 armour, a shotgun and SMG on their back but as he examined the room he noticed something wrong…He was the only one there. "Captain Flux?"

The figure turned around and nodded. A helmet covered up his face and he made no motion to take it off. "That's right. You must be Lieutenant Commander Silvers. Your CO is currently with the fleet I heard, may god help him, and I'll keep this brief." He walked up to Flynn and handed him over a datapad. "This information is what was given to all CO's earlier today when we picked up something big nearby. Information that Commander Shepard himself had obtained and collected."

Flynn took the datapad and had a flick through it. Most of it was schematics and data on previous Reaper encounters with some detail into the weapon systems. "Okay, so what's the plan? Evacuate the entire planet?"

Captain Flux nodded. "We need to evacuate as many civilians as quickly as humanly possible before the Reapers show up. We don't know how long we got before they turn up so we got to move fast."

Flynn nodded and was about to reply when a faint wailing sound sounded from above. It then turned into a loud groaning noise and the clouds started to flash red. He walked up to the windows and looked up. A large black object was descending from the clouds, red lasers shooting forth and destroying anything in its wake. "My god…" He hadn't imagined anything like this. A second Reaper dropped down behind it and followed suit and then a third and a forth. The Reapers were deadly and the worst part? They had received no word from the Admirals and CO's in the fleet.

"Come on Silvers, we got a job to do." Flux said and took out his Tempest SMG.

Flynn nodded and reached behind him for his Mattock. "Roger that." He took one more look out at the Reaper and froze as he saw a bright light pointing in his direction. Fear froze his legs as the beam shot out. Then everything turned black.

**VVVV**

Pain stuck hard when Flynn came too. The muffled sounds of gunfire and screaming were second only to the loud crashes caused by the Reapers monstrous weaponry. His communicator was alive with activity with various soldiers calling out wounded, Reaper sightings and reports of some weird grotesque monster shooting down soldiers. His body felt heavy as he rolled over onto his front so he could stand up. Apart from the initial pain it felt like he managed to get out unscathed. He twisted his wrist a few times and picked up his Mattock and looked over to the wall, or where the wall would have been. Now a large hole was all that remained, giving Flynn a large view of the destruction the Reapers were bringing. He took a glance around the room and saw no sign of Captain Flux. Whether he was dead or alive was uncertain but all he knew as that he was alone.

His comm link buzzed with activity and burst static but his visor was indicating that it was a frequency that he had told Roxy to use if she needed to. A few adjustments later via his omni-tool and the static was mostly gone. "Roxy? Is that you?"

"_Flynn! I'm down near the spaceport! The Reapers have got Husks and god knows what else and slaughtering everyone! I can't keep them away forever and I'm running out of clips and biotic power." _

Flynn glanced out at the hole and saw the spaceport in the distance. He did have a clear shot at the port from where he was. He pulled out his Viper, placed his Mattock on the floor and leaned it through on a windowsill. "Roxy, you got anything to mark the targets with? Smoke? Signs?"

"_Hang on…Yeah! I'm throwing it at the enemy, look for the green smoke." _

Flynn didn't say anything. He adjusted the scope of his rifle and homed in on the port. He could just about see the signs of movement from this range but he didn't want to zoom in too much and miss the smoke. Just out of the corner of the scope a small cloud of green caught his eye and quickly homed in on it. He saw the familiar form of the husks and with the targeting data from his visor shot a bullet in their direction. Each shot remained true to their target and instantly ended their insignificant lives. He then turned to the bigger enemies and stopped as he took in what he was looking at.

He wasn't sure what he was looking at. They definitely had a resemblance to the Husks around them that was certain. Upon closer inspection of the face he swore it looked like a Batarian that got the worst part of the Husk treatment. Its entire body was large and brown, the tiny arm was nothing compared to the weird gun like arm. It wasn't alone however. More of those things came into view and 'ran' ahead of the one he was focusing on, firing its weird gun at the others.

Flynn shook himself out from his stupor and gripped his Viper tightly. He would have the time to examine the enemies later. For now, Roxy was in trouble and he had to help her. His trigger finger curled around the trigger gently, his breathing becoming still and controlled. Sure the computer in his Visor would work out the logistics of the shot for him, but it would mean nothing if he didn't keep a clear mind. Marksmanship was a dying art and few were willing to learn how not to use computers to calculate their shots. The Viper shuddered in his grip as it spat out a tiny bullet propelled by the Mass Accelerator tech inside the gun and slammed into the Batarian-Husk's head. It seemed totally unphased by the bullet and it took two more shots to put it down. Those things were tough. He was about to move onto the next target and stopped when he watched the other Batarian things move over to the corpse and started to eat it like a cannibal. Flynn wanted to gag at the sight but suppressed the urge and quickly took each one of them out while they were distracted.

"_Thanks Flynn…you never told me you had such a mean sniper rifle…what's the plan?" Roxy pipped up._

Flynn stood up and vented the Thermal Clip from his Viper and replaced it before placing it back on his back and picked up his Mattock. With his Flux either dead or leaving him behind thinking he had died, he was on his own. "How many people do you have at the Spaceport?"

"_About…six civilians and only one other soldier. Her biotics are definitely useful though." _

He could make it to the spaceport given the time. But on foot it would take him at least an hour to make it at a fast pace and trying to take a car would be too risky. He'd be shot out of the air by the Reapers if he were spotted. It was the only thing he could do though. If they could find a working ship, maybe they could get off-world and get some innocents off the planet. "Stay where you are and hold out for a bit. I'm moving to your location now."

"_Alright. Roxy out."_

Flynn sighed when the channel cut out. He turned to the doorway and moved through the doubt the elevators would be out of commission, so he'd have to take the long trek down the stairs, providing they weren't blown to pieces.

**VVVV**

Every corner he turned, the Reapers destruction was absolute. Ruined buildings littered the sides of the streets in every direction Flynn looked. Rubble littered the floor, mixed in with corpses, blood and glass. The smell of death was thick in the air and the never ending sounds of the Reaper's echoed constantly in Flynn's ears. Death was Flynn's companion on his way to the spaceport. In the few short minutes that had past. Earth had turned from a lively planet, to one that rivals a ghost town. He hasn't seen a living thing (Husks and 'Cannibals' the larger ones, included) for a while and that put him on edge. He hoped that someone friendly would pop out and greet him but frankly, he didn't trust Lady Luck at the moment. Despite the loneliness of the streets he could hear the Reapers attacking the city with their weapons, the faint screams singing in a cacophony of death and destruction. He wanted nothing more than to switch off the world and listen to some soothing music but reality and fantasy never really mixed in well.

His gut instinct kicked in and he threw himself into a ruined corner shop. The smell of death and blood still hung in the air. The shop was totalled with various foods, drink and other things scattered across the floor and against the various stands that stood slanted one ontop of another along the middle of the shop. He could hear the snarls and growls of Husks and Cannibals outside. He didn't dare waste the ammo; he'd save it for the inevitable "oh-shit" moment." He slowly stood up; his finger trigger gently curled around the Mattock's trigger and edged away back from the window. He was certain that they'd have a back exit somewhere. The back of his heel kicked something and immediately turned around and aimed down the sights, his heart thudding in his chest.

A young woman lay on the floor. Her clothes ripped and stained with blood. Many of the cuts along her arms were embedded with glass. What looked like to be a pole stuck out from her back, pinning her to the floor. Her dark violet eyes looked up to him. She attempted to speak but no words came out.

Flynn immediately placed his Mattock on the floor and held her chin gently and gave her a warm smile. "Hey, you're safe now. I'm with the alliance." He looked at the pole in her back with a sense of worry. It was a thick pole, no doubt from the piping in the walls that she could have been impaled on from an explosion and trying to remove it would only cause more pain and for her to bleed out and die. He was no medic. "What's your name?"

"S-Samantha…" the woman's voice was barely audible; she gripped her hip, scrunched up her eyes and gritted her teeth in pain. "Are…agh…you going to help?"

Flynn looked at her for a moment and then nodded. "Of course," he racked his brain to come up with a solution. He could put her out of her misery, but that was no option. He knew of a nearby hospital that he could get the woman to for medical treatment, but would she even be able to bear the pain that would come from such an action? The last option was an all-out run for the spaceport. He knew that Roxy had some medical skill and shed be with the evacuating civilians if they could get some ships off the ground. That was the furthest option. No, the hospital was the best bet. He held up a finger, indicating for her to be quiet while he stood up and slowly walked over to the window. He peaked around the corner and opened up his comm-link. "Roxy? Roxy can you hear me?"

"_Getting some interference, but yeah I hear you." _

"I found some civilians near the base but she's badly injured so I'm going to have to make a detour to the hospital. Can you hold out for a bit longer?"

"_We should be fine Flynn. A couple of soldiers stumbled their way to us and luckily they had plenty of ammo to go around. I'm trying to get a call to my CO but this interference is killing the signal. If you can get to the hospital, call for an evac and get any civilians you can to the spaceport."_

Flynn glanced out of the window and shrunk back when a group of husks stopped on the crossroads nearby. He looked to the woman and put a finger on his mouth and glanced out again. "Alright sounds like a plan. I'll check in when I get to the hospital. Flynn out," he whispered quietly and cut off the link. His other hand rested gently on his M3 predator while he eyed the husks, which were now joined by a few Cannibals. It took all of his willpower to not fire upon the group as it would give away his position and make it difficult to move Samantha to the hospital. Lady luck however, seemed to be kind to him, as the group ran off in the opposite direction. He let out a relieved sigh and knelt down next to Samantha. "Alright, I'm going to move you to the hospital, but it's going to hurt. I can't remove the pipe, you might bleed to death and I'm not equipped to help you properly." He dug into one of his pockets and pulled out a small tube full of liquid. "I can give you some morphine, a painkiller, but that's all I can do."

Samantha nodded. "A-Alright…"

Flynn nodded and dug the needle of the morphine into her leg and threw the empty syringe to one side. Gently holding the undersides of her arm, he pulled her from underneath the fallen rows and let out a silent thank you to whatever deity that was providing him with such good luck that the pole was not connected to something underneath her. "I forgot to say. My name is Flynn." He helped Samantha onto her feet and placed her arm around his neck. "Is there a back entrance? "

Samantha nodded and pointed with her free arm. "It's just over there and leads to a back alley."

Flynn nodded. "Alright, just hang in there Samantha. We'll get you to a hospital soon."

**VVVV**

Why does mankind continue to fight even when knowing that it's destruction would be absolute? The Reapers would never understand that with their synthetic minds based on calculation upon calculation. Not even a race of sentient beings that are over 50,000 years old could calculate emotions. Mankind was just the ones that showed them the strongest. Yes they feel pain, despair, sadness and anger. But their strongest emotions were hope, joy, happiness and love. It was ultimately these emotions that drive Mankind to push hard, to strive above the impossible and come out on top.

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><p>So after some planning This fiction will actually have an indefinite amount of chapters and will end some time near the release of Mass Effect 3 or just before it.<br>Note: the demo is awesome...check it out already!


	3. Lady Luck

**Lady Luck.**

The door leading to the back alley gave no resistance to Flynn's boot when he kicked it open, opening to a small alleyway full of empty boxes and other waste packaging. Despite human civilisation shooting forward in the last 200 or so years they still couldn't cut down on waste packaging. Then again, it's a small price seeing as they had no need to landfill sites anymore. Mankind could just find a planet and dump all the rubbish on an unhabituated and uninhabitable planet.

Flynn glanced around, aiming awkwardly with the Mattock in one of his hands and his visor linked wirelessly to the aiming reticule on the rifle. The technology certainly helped in situations where normal aiming wasn't an option, such as helping an injured person and many of his friends often teased him about his preference for an 'inferior' way of aiming. He would simply turn around, point to the scores of the accuracy tests and say "This is inferior?" The back alley was clear of enemies so the two of them pressed forward. Samantha helped with his other arm while keeping her chest in check so that the embedded pole wouldn't cause any more damage. Being ill equipped to handle any situation annoyed Flynn the most but he could only move forward and deal with it. The Alley way turned sharply around a corner and onto a main road which looked just as deserted as the last and not a single enemy was in sight. "How are you holding up Samantha?"

Samantha let out a small nod. "I'm fine. It hurts but I'll manage." She looked up to him and smiled weakly.

Flynn immediately set down the road. His trigger finger felt itchy with the desire for some payback, the urge he fought to keep suppressed now that he was helping an injured person. The stench of death had gone a little, but he only assumed it was because he was so used to smelling it he didn't notice it anymore and yet he couldn't shake of the feeling that he was being watched. He stopped for a moment and looked around. The hospital was to the East, he knew that much but something felt off.

The ground beside them suddenly threw up bits of concrete and dust as gunfire blazed out from some of the ruined buildings. The growls of husks emitted from behind them, each one glaring at the pair with their monstrous blue eyes.

"Shit" Flynn muttered and moved his Mattock behind him. He ignored the targeting screen his visor offered him and fired blindly behind him. A couple of thuds told him some of his shots hit their target. His Mattock let less a blast of steam and a warning beep, telling him the thermal clip was full, he couldn't reload with a single hand, not while escorting Samantha. "Sam this is going to hurt, but it has to be done." He didn't wait for a response. He put his Mattock on his back and scooped her up in a bridal style and ran down the street.

Samantha let out a yell of pain and gripped whatever she could of his armour tightly, her teeth clenched and her eyes scrunched up tightly. All around them the gunfire never seemed to end. Each bullet slammed into the ground around them or was deflected by Flynn's shielding.

"How many of those things are there?" Flynn shouted in frustration as he continued to run. He was vaguely aware of something warm staining his forearm armour and for a moment panicked that Samantha was losing too much blood. He couldn't stop to check though. The entire street was to open for find somewhere safe to bunker down for a few moments. He spotted a pile of rubble nearby and immediately made a break for it. Another shot hit at his shield. His armours warning system sounded and the shield faltered, leaving him exposed to the hail of gunfire just as he made it to the rubble. It would offer him some moderate protection from the gunfire. He placed Samantha down nearby and immediately replaced the thermal clip of his Mattock and aimed over the rubble pile at the oncoming Husks. They were the most immediate danger as their claws were sharp as knives. His Mattock let out a bullet with each trigger press, and with each trigger press each enemy would fall to the floor, a bullet puncturing its skull and stopping it cold. Again his Mattock let out another hiss of steam, wanting another thermal clip. Flynn growled and fumbled in his pouch for a second clip when a husk slammed into him.

The two stumbled over and over for a moment, both of them fought to remain on top of the other. Soon the two stopped and the husk found itself on the superior position. Flynn slammed his fist into the Husk's skull but only felt the pain through his gloved hand as he impacted a mixture of bone and metal. He kneed it in the gut and attempted to kick the husk off but it refused to be removed. It swiped at his face and felt the claws dig into his skin and drew blood along his cheek. He slammed his fist into its skull again and managed to get enough momentum in his fist to slam it off. Taking the opportunity, he got up and configured his Omni-tool. Two blades snapped out from the sides and stick out from his arm, the two blades started to generate an overload charge and Flynn slammed it forward.

The combination of the penetration of the Omni-blade and the added effect of the electricity wreaked havoc with the Husk. It stood on the spot and shuddered violently, letting out a pained groan.

Flynn immediately picked up his Mattock and reloaded it before replacing it on his back and picking up Samantha and running again. The position was going to be over-run too quickly and was open to flanking. He had to keep moving if he were to survive.

"C-Can we stop for a moment? It hurts." Samantha muttered quietly, looking lifelessly at his chest, her grip loose on his shoulder.

Flynn looked down at her and glanced around. The hospital was nowhere near insight and he could hear the enemy coming from behind. Where could he go to defend himself and Samantha and not get over-run? His feet continued to push him down the ruined streets and past the numerous corpses that littered them. "You have to hold on just for a little while longer Sam." He looked behind him and kept running. He soon eyed a building in-front of him. It was nearly completely destroyed apart from a single window that seemed like it was the only entrance. A wrecked van lay nearby. AN idea formed in his head. He ran into towards the van and smiled when he saw the door was facing the opposite direction of the oncoming enemy. He stepped inside and placed Samantha on the floor.

"W-Wait, where are you going?" Samantha croaked as she watched him leave the van.

"We need to lose the enemy, I can't keep running you around, and you'll bleed out if I'm not careful." Flynn explained. He took out his pistol and placed it in her grip. "I'll be nearby, but in the unlikely event that the enemy gets to close, shoot them in the head." He smiled warmly and patted her head. "I'll be nearby. Don't worry." He left the Van and quickly jumped through the window and set up shop. His Mattock rested against the wall nearby, a handful of thermal clips next to it with his Viper resting through the window. He slowed his breathing down and concentrated through the scope as the husks and cannibals came into view.

One shot echoed and a husk immediately dropped the green fluid that inhabited it body splattered against the floor and other nearby allies. The Cannibals realising they were under-fire immediately started to fire in Flynn's direction. The ballets slammed across the ruined building and into the Van. Samantha let out a scream of terror from the hail of gunfire.

"It's fine Sam! Don't panic!" Flynn shouted as he remained through the scope and fired a handful of shots. Each shot found their marks in the head of a number of husks and cannibals and yet even more seemed to appear from behind them. Their numbers felt like it was infinite and a war that they could not win. His Viper hissed with steam and automatically ejected the thermal clip. He grabbed another clip and slammed it inside and continued to fire. A loud whistling noise caught his attention from above, followed by the roar of an engine and multiple explosions. Above them a dreadnaught was fighting a futile fight against a reaper. Realizing the worst he quickly packed up his things and fired widely at the oncoming enemy as he ran towards the van. He threw himself inside and looked at Sam. "You might want to brace yourself."

Before Samantha could speak the pair could hear a spectacular explosion from above, followed by the explosion of the mass effect core. The weakened buildings nearby all shuddered and started to collapse. Smoke entered the Van and the two were forced to cover their mouths and listen to the destruction outside. Soon all went quiet aside from the reaper moving on to find its next target.

Flynn was the first one to exit out of the van and surveyed the surrounds. Lady Luck seemed to be with him on the day as the entire enemy force was crushed under the buildings that had collapsed and the one area where he was sniping from had also collapsed on itself. He went back inside and picked up Samantha and walked back out and down the street. He took a look up at where the dreadnaught was and lamented the loss of one of the most powerful ships the alliance had and the countless lives that had been lost in the explosion.

**VVVV**

The hospital thankfully came into view a short walk later. A handful of Alliance soldiers were out the front, keeping guard against the various waves of husks and cannibals. The hospital building was a wreck. An entire block was missing, no doubt destroyed by a damaged ship or a stray Reaper beam. So far the Reapers have seemed to have left this area alone, but for however long remains to be seen.

The soldiers saw them first and as expected aimed their various weapons at him. "Identify yourself."

Flynn looked at them with serious eyes. "Lieutenant Commander Flynn silvers special forces rank N6." He stepped past them without battering an eyelash. They would dare fire on anyone that resembled a human. The alliance brass (if one still existed) would have given them hell if they did. He walked up to one of the doctors examining a row of injured persons. "I have another patient for you Doc."

He looked up and then saw Samantha in his arms and nodded, shouting over to one of his co-workers to cover for him as the three of them went inside. "You took a risk moving her. Blood loss should have killed her if not the pain from the impalement…"

Flynn shook his head. "Never mind the details. I did what I had to do but can you do something?" The group walked into a dining room and closed the door behind them. With a single swipe the doctor had cleared one of the tables off and Flynn placed her on the table.

"It depends. The pole could be blocking an artery that is preventing some internal bleeding. If we removed it she could die from the blood loss." The doctor thought for a moment while examining the area around the pole. "This might take me awhile but without proper medical supplies I can't do much. We've been stretched thin with the supplies since the wounded came in."

"Has no-one sent for an evacuation?" Flynn enquired while looking outside one of the nearby windows at the destruction.

"The soldiers that managed to find their way here couldn't get the request through, something about rank and priorities for the evacuation. The best we can do here is making sure the patients are comfortable for the next few hours." The doctor explained to him.

Flynn shook his head and walked up to him. "No, tell your staff to make as many patients as possible ready to be moved for evacuation and those that can't make sure you get some volunteers willing to wait until we get can medical supplies down here." He walked over to the door and looked over to Samantha before exiting the room.

**VVVV**

Mankind has always had a difficult position in the galaxy. Being relative newcomers to the Citadel and the politics of the galactic council, it was feared that humans would rise up and take over. To an extent maybe that was true. In a short time the council had let a human join the Council, sealing their truce in political bond. And even then Mankind has always fought against the insurmountable odds that it faced with any challenge. And yet they always managed to find away…  
>This was both the blessing and curse of Mankind…and it would be this single trait that would determine if the galaxy would win or lose against the Reapers.<p> 


	4. The Underground Plan

**The Underground Plan**

The cries of the damned…they never stopped echoing faintly in the distance.

Flynn stood on the top most floor of the hospital. Even high up in the hospital, he could hear the screaming below. A large hole in the wall gave him a spectacular view of the town as the Reapers went about their cycle of destruction. Even now in the midst of the busyness of the building he could hear the howling of the giant synthetic monsters and their weapons extinguishing life after life in a concert of death.

It felt like they had no hope of getting out of this alive.

"C'mon Flynn." He muttered angrily and hit his forehead gently with the palm of his hand, trying to beat the thoughts into submission. He had no time for pessimism. Right now he had a job to do and he intended to see it through. We walked over to a large table surface, comprised of two smaller tables. On the table were his Mattock, Predator and Viper, along with the handful of clips he had left. A frustrated sigh escaped his lips as he considered a plan of action.

"_You don't sound too happy." _Roxy's staticy voice echoed from the terminal nearby. The interference was doing its part, but Flynn had a nack for tech, even if he was an Alliance Soldier.

"I've been in my fair share of bad spots Roxy with Eden Prime being the worst but this? How am I meant to save everyone with such limited resources? I got three clips left and no transport." Flynn thought out loudly. People often said that he was mad, talking to himself and such. He simply dismissed them. Sometimes the most brilliant of ideas were thought of when you talk to yourself.

"_You're telling me…I have no idea what the Reapers are up to but we caught a break. We're trying to fix up the wounded the best we can but we need to get some of these guys to medical or they won't make it. I have never been so grateful for biotics." _

Flynn weakly laughed, shaking his head at his comrade. "Yeah, shame I've never been exposed to Eezo. We need a miracle Roxy…and a pretty big one at that." His head shot around when the entire building shook violently. Seeing nothing, he looked back at his weapons and picked up his Mattock. Since Shepard had returned from his dealings with Cerberus, all his weaponry was confiscated and any useful weapons were quickly copied; the Mattock was one such copies. He placed it to one side and picked up his Viper. The rifle had been with him through thick and thin. Other marksmen had often scolded him for going with the lesser accurate, less stopping power rifle but for all the faults the Viper had, it made up for firing speed and capacity. "What have you got over there?"

"_A pair of biotics, a few clips left for my Valkyrie and that's about it. We're not going to hold out much longer Flynn." _Even with all the static, Flynn could hear the despair in her voice.

"Wait, since when did you get a Valkyrie?"He asked with curiosity.

"_Supply drop. It came about half an hour ago with a ton of random weapons. I was surprised too when they suggested I take it." _Roxy explained in a more happier tone of voice.

With a sigh he stood up and pressed a few buttons on his omni-tool, transferring the communication over to his comm link. "We'll get through this Roxy." He picked up his Viper and Predator and placed them on his back. For a moment he glanced at his Mattock but left it behind. The additional weight would only slow him down. "As soon as I get any good news I'll let you know."

"_Thanks. Stay safe Flynn." _

The link died with a burst of static before he switched it off. "If I even have any good news."

**VVVV**

"We've got 2 critically injured people, 3 more patients are in intensive care and even more wounded too boot." An old man said solemnly. He wore a white lab coat, his grey hair thin enough to see the skin of his scalp. "Even if the Alliance were able to get shuttles to us, it'll be impossible to move some of them due to the severity of their conditions."

Flynn sat down and nodded to himself. His hand supporting his chin as his fingers absentmindedly stroked it in thought. "That's true. Does the hospital have any vehicles of their own?"

"A few" The old doctor responded. "however none of them could outmanoeuvre the Reapers and can only fit at most, 4 people in the back and three in the front. "

Flynn nodded and pressed a few buttons on his omni-tool, bringing up a holographic map of the surrounding area. "We're here…and the spaceport is there." He pointed to each individual location, the map sending small ripples from where his finger touched as if to highlight the location. "It's too far on foot, but trying to get there by vehicle would mean death by Reaper." He thought aloud. The situation truly was impossible. "Unless we were to go underground…"

The map switched to a view of the old abandoned underground tunnels that lay underneath the city. It was once used for transport but with the advancement of technology, it was quickly outdated and eventually unused.

"From what I gather, the Reapers go by sight like us organics. If they use other means of detection it remains unknown to me. If we go underground…we'd be invisible to heat and sonar." Flynn started to speed. His finger drew a red line along the intended path of the underground. It was more or less a straight shot from here to the spaceport. Upon further examination, Flynn noted that the underground tunnel was indeed a straight shot to the spaceport. If they had decided to go across on the surface and risk the Reaper forces, they'd have to navigate the city's various twists and turns.

"But what of the patients?" The Doctor asked. "and of the ones in intensive care? We can't move them."

Flynn slammed his fist onto the table. "We don't have a choice in the matter! Either we stay here and everyone dies or we give everyone some hope that we can get out of this alive." He pushed up off the table and sighed. "Hope is one hell of a morale booster." He turned to walk out of the door. "All of the non-wounded civilians are in the lobby right?"

The Doctor nodded. "The ones that haven't got anything to do yes. Why do you ask?"

Flynn stood up and sighed again. "As much as I hate to admit it…we're going to need their help."

**VVVV**

When Flynn stood outside the door to the large lobby area, his heart thudded in his chest that it felt like it was going to burst free from its prison. He was breaking his one rule that he always adhered to: Not to involve civilians in any situation. However he could see no other option if his intended plan was going to work. He mentally steeled his mind and opened the large double doors. Walking into the lobby area and felt all eyes on him. He hated being the big figure of the picture.

"What's going on?"

"Are you here to help us?"

"Please! My son needs help!"

He stood up on one of the chairs and looked down at the group of the civilians down below him and sighed. "I need to ask everyone to calm down for a moment." After that got him no further, with a sigh he pulled out his Predator and fired a single shot into the air. Silence soon enveloped the room while he placed it back on its holster. "I have a plan to get us all out of here, but I need some volunteers ." He fired up the various maps on his Omni-tool and displayed them against the wall next to him. "We can use the underground tunnels to get to the spaceport where evacuations are taking place but we can't move out certain patients what are critically injured. Any volunteers that are willing to help assist in the moving of said patients find the head doctor."

For a moment nobody moved but looked at him plainly. Then slowly people started to move out of the room and towards the head doctor. He waited for a couple of minutes before speaking up again, "For those who were not willing to do that, I do not blame you. I WILL make every effort to make sure every single one of you gets out of here safely."

**VVVV**

"_The old underground? How do you know it hasn't been caved in?" _

Flynn smiled while cleaning the barrel of his Viper. "I don't. But I'd rather take a chance to try and get to you and not do anything. Any word on evac?"

"_Yeah. Shuttles are being prepped for evac at spaceports around the world. Some are going to reach here in a couple of hours. We're holding the fort till then. You got till thirteen-hundred to get here."_

Flynn checked his watch and frowned. He barely had an hour to get to the spaceport before the evac shuttles get there. "Can't we delay it for an hour?"

"_Nope. Anderson said they couldn't afford to spend too much time in one area. Each shuttle formation has been given an hour tops. he also mentioned that the Reapers were targeting the shuttles. Apparently only one out of five shuttles make it off earth." _She continued to explain.

Flynn nodded. "Alright. If I'm not there in time, do me a favour and get on yourself and don't worry about me."

"_Please…as if I'd leave behind my comrade." _Roxy scoffed. _"We're in this together Flynn."_

He smiled to himself as the door opened and the head doctor walked inside and stood to the side for a moment. "I know, but do it for me anyway. We're leaving in a bit for the spaceport so hopefully we'll see each other soon."

"_Yeah. Flynn?"_

"Yeah?"

"_Don't you dare die on me." _

"Please…remember who you're talking to." Flynn said too confidently. "But the same goes to you."

"_Yeah…see you in a few hours."_

Flynn sighed as the link went and shook his head. He had no choice but to succeed in this mission for himself, for Roxy and the civilians they are guarding.

"We're ready." The doctor spoke up and held the door open for Flynn. He walked through alongside him. "We patched up the low priority patients as best we could. All that's left are the more difficult critically injured persons. We can wheel them out on the beds as volunteers are holding up IV packets and applying medi-gel as and when needed."

Flynn nodded but shot the doctor a glance. "IV packets? You still have the dated equipment?"

The Doctor nodded. "Personal decision. We kept the old equipment down in storage in-case of an emergency...I think this qualifies. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish preparations with the patients."

Flynn nodded and watched as the Doctor went down another corridor. It seemed like he was going to have some luck after all.

"Reporting for Duty, sir." A familiar, female voice came from behind him.

Flynn turned around to see Samantha standing behind him, a warm smile on her face. He noted the amount of bandages around her stomach and shot her a concerned look. "Should you be up and about?"

Samantha smiled and shrugged. "Probably not, but I want to help." She reached behind her and pulled out his Mattock rifle. "You left this behind by the way."

Flynn looked at her and then at the rifle before taking it. "You need to rest Sam. Go -"

"I'm not going to go rest and I'm not going to help move patients. You don't have enough people with guns to help escort everyone. Shouldn't you take up any available hands?" She cut in before he could finish.

"I can't put your life in danger! You should know I have a rule NOT to involve any civilians if I can avoid it. That includes you. Besides even if I didn't have that rule; firstly you're injured and secondly you don't know how to use a gun." Flynn debated hotly.

As if to prove a point, she wretched the Mattock from his grip and fired a single shot in the middle of the number 0 at a sign nearby. "I've been taught to defend myself in-case thieves decided to try and steal from the shop." She smirked and threw the weapon back at him. "I'll meet you outside."

Flynn looked at her, bewildered at the turn of events but felt a smile tug at his lips. He rolled his eyes and walked after her. "Woman…too much for me to handle."

**VVVV**

"Alright," Flynn said confidently to the other alliance soldiers and Samantha outside of the hospital and away from all the patients and doctors. "We're going to move everyone from here over to the evac point at the spaceport. We're going through the abandoned underground tunnels. It's more or less a straight shot through the tunnels." Flynn pointed out on the holographic map as a red line was drawn over the intended route.

"You don't sound too confident about the idea." A woman spoke up. Her dark red hair tied up in a small pony-tail. "What's the catch?"

"The catch is we got forty five minutes to get there. Forty, when we move out. It'll be a quick run for the spaceport and evac." Flynn said, glancing uneasily at the clock.

"It's going to be tight…that's for sure." A gruff voice muttered from behind a darkened helmet. "If we're going to make it we'll need to move soon. But I don't see how we three and a volunteer can stave off the Reaper forces till we reach the evac point."

"I've already solved that one." Samantha spoke up happily and opened up the doors to the hospital. Behind the doors were a group of people, old and young, strong and weak. There were at least ten of them. "While I was meant to be resting I had talked to everyone that had wanted to help. These were the volunteers."

Flynn looked at Samantha in disbelief. "You've thought of everything haven't you?"

Samantha shrugged. "The only problem is we don't have any weapons to give out."

The woman soldier smiled and walked off for a moment, returning with a large crate full of small arm weapons. "I and Ash found this crate of weapons from a downed support ship on our way here. We were lucky enough not to encounter resistance while we got the crate over here, but we got Predetors, Avengers and even one of the Argus Rifle.

Flynn looked over to the woman. "The M-55 Argus? Let's have a look." He walked over to her and took the heavy rifle that was passed over to him. The design was similar to that of the Mattock, but that was because the Argus was based off the Mattock but with some improvements to the mass accelerators, giving it some more force per shot. "I thought they didn't finish the Argus yet, something about the Stability." He muttered to himself while looking the rifle over. It was definitely a beautiful rifle. He looked over at the woman. "I didn't catch your name."

She smiled and bowed her head a little. "Natsura. My partner here is Ashley, but we all call him Ash."

"It's nice to meet you Natsura, can you distribute the weapons between the volunteers as quickly as you can. You got five minutes." Flynn asked and gave Natsura back the Argus rifle before heading down the road to gather his thoughts.

"Flynn?" Samantha stood behind him, a look of concern on her face as she approached him. "Is everything alright?"

He nodded and made the best fake smile he could muster. "Yeah I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

Samantha frowned in annoyance and placed her hands on her hip, being careful not to reopen the wound on her torso. "Because you are only human; you're not some Turian soldier with your emotion drummed out of you. "

Flynn sighed and stroked the back of his head. "I'm that easy to read huh?" He looked down the road at their intended direction. "I'm just worried that's all. I'm dealing with a lot of unknowns. I don't like unknowns when planning a mission. I make decisions based on information." He let out another weary sigh before shaking his head. "If I make the wrong choice, a lot of people could die. You could die."

Samantha smiled and held the Avenger Rifle she had been given confidently in both arms, almost like a proper soldier. "It'll be fine Flynn. You're a good man. You could have left me to die in that store but you didn't and I appreciate it."

Flynn chuckled a little. "Yeah," He looked back at Natsura while she was sorting out the weapons between the volunteers. "Do me a favour, get inside and tell the doctor's to get everyone ready to move them."

Samantha nodded and without a word, turned back and ran into the hospital.

**40 minutes left**

"_I got nothing on scope…it looks clear but they could be hiding in ambush." _Ash's gruff voice broke through the comm link.

Flynn glanced over to the soldier at a nearby ruined building. He was around the corner with Samantha next to him. Behind them were two lines of civilians on beds with more helping the doctors by holding up old IV packs and others standing around on guard. "How about you Nat?"

"_Looks clear to the east as well. This is too quiet though. Could they be lying in wait for an ambush?" _Natsura asked, a burst of static accompanying her voice.

Flynn shook his head. "I doubt it. The forces I've seen look too dumb to try something like that. It could be that being changed into this…reaper force could mean a lack of intelligence. They attack in numbers. Keep me posted." He looked around the corner and saw what he wanted to see. The entrance to the old underground was boarded up at the gate. He'd have to remove the planks of wood and if push comes to shove, blow them off. "Sam, stay here with the others. Give me a shout if you need me."

Samantha nodded in confirmation and took up a covering fire position.

Flynn smiled a little to himself and ran across the road, occasionally aiming down his Mattock's sight during his run and stopped in-front of the wooden boards. He placed his Mattock on the floor and dug his fingers into the board as much as he could before pulling as hard as he could. The wooden board refused to budge. He glanced behind him for a moment before activating his Omni-tool, activating his Omni-blade. A single, bright, curved blade emitted from the Omni-tool and he dug into the wood. The blade cut into the wood with no effort and he started to work on removing the boards.

"_Flynn I got movement, three husks and a pair of Cannibals. They haven't spotted the group yet but are slowly moving this way." _Natsura spoke up.

"_I got the same thing on my end. Shall I open fire?" _Ash asked. The sound of a Rifle being prepared for combat in the background.

"Negative, I still need time to get into the underground. If they get too close then open fire but not any earlier." Flynn ordered while cutting away a plank. It fell to the floor with a clatter and he started to work on the next blank. It was lucky that they were given his blade no resistance.

"_Flynn, Sam here! I just spotted a ton of husks coming up from behind. What should I do?" _

Flynn quickly stopped what he was doing and glanced over the steps in Sam's direction. He could see the large group of husks approaching the group from behind them. "Shit. Sam, get everyone moving towards the underground. Nat, Ash, deal with your targets and then provide cover fire for the civilians." He went back to the boards and abandoned the careful removal of the wood and started to hack at it. He could hear the gunfire behind him and the growls of a group of husks. The last board fell free and he forcefully kicked open the entrance just in time for the first group of doctor – patient groups to run on inside. He quickly picked up his Mattock and fired a handful of shots into the group of husks, dropping them before they got to close to some of the volunteers.

One volunteer were unlucky as a Husk jumped up onto him and started to assault him with its claws, drawing blood with each claw. The man yelled in agony and started to fire wildly. the bullets slammed into the wall nearby and into second unfortunate volunteer, the bullets biting through the flesh with ease; the impact sent blood flowing in all directions, decorating the rubble with splashes of dark red.

"Sam, get your ass in gear now!" Flynn shouted as his Mattock hissed with steam just as a Husk rounded a corner and lunged for him.

A trio of bullets caught the Husk in the side, propelling it into the wall, smearing the wall with its synthetic blood.

"I tell you now…this Argus packs one hell of a punch." Natsura said with a smirk and fired another volley of bullets at the group of husks just as Samantha passed the pair of them.

"I'll take your word for it." Flynn stood next to Natsura, firing with his Predator at the oncoming husks, a volley of bullets slamming into a nearby husk, its head exploding from the sheer force of the bullets. "Where's Ash?" Flynn desperately shouted while holstering his pistol and slamming a fresh clip into his Mattock before replacing it on his back and drawing his predator

"I don't know! I lost contact with him when the husks attacked." Natsura replied while firing another burst from her powerful rifle. "There's too many of them! We have to fall back!"

Flynn growled as another shot was fired from his pistol. Could he really leave Ash behind? He got on the radio. "Ash, if you can hear me we have to move on for the sake of the civilians. Meet us at the spaceport." He tapped Natsura on the shoulder. "Come on, let's get going." He started to walk backwards while scanning around for his next target, but they all seemed to have been dealt with. The pair of them walked into the underground and closed the gate behind them, wielding it shut via their Omni-tools.

"That was close." Natsura struggled to say during deep breaths. "I've been in some tight spots…but that's nothing compared to this."

Flynn nodded in agreement and stood up, stretching a little. "We got to keep moving." He looked over to Natsura and noted her concerned look, the frown of her eyes and her body was slouched a little. "Hey," He patted her warmly on the shoulder "Ash will be fine. We'll see him at the spaceport; have faith in your partner."

Natsura nodded and rubbed her eyes with her sleeve. "Y-Yeah. Sorry I won't get distracted in the future."

Flynn smiled and walked on ahead. "Now then…let's get these guys home. Oh," He stopped and turned to her with a warm smile on his face. "Keep up the good work and I'll throw an N7 commendation your way."

Natsura only giggled a little and ran forward to catch up with Flynn.

**VVVV**

Humanity doesn't have any fancy special op groups. The Turian's had the biggest military in the galaxy. The Salarians had their STG and the Asari had their commandos. You could debate that Humanity had Cerberus. But Cerberus was not the humanity version of the STG or commandos; they were ruthless, their end goal being the dominance of Humanity and not the co-operation of the galactic community.

Humanity however, had the best weapon in the entire galaxy and that was compassion.

Commander Shepard passionately believed that the Reapers would invade. He was killed and brought back to life to fight for his belief in the reapers and that gave him strength during his trails.

Flynn, Roxy, Natsura, Ashley and Samantha all needed that strength that could only be forged with a bond so powerful that it would take the entire Reaper armada to break it.


	5. Brute Force

**Brute Force**

"How's the situation Doc?" Flynn asked as he approached the old man who was busy looking at a datapad of information.

The doctor looked up at him and smiled, nodding with satisfaction before handing the pad over to him. "Better than I thought. Apart from the two unfortunate souls, who were killed earlier, everyone is in a stable condition and we are ready to move out at a moment's notice."

Flynn let a sigh of relief escape his lips. It was the first bit of good news he had heard all day and he had hoped that he would continue to get the good news. He also hoped that Karin was still looking out for him from wherever she is. "Get everyone ready to move out. We won't have long before the Reapers get in here."

He moved past the Doctor, the crowds of people and the few beds as he continued onward. Various patients held out their hands, wanting to shake the hand of their saviour. Many others extended their thanks verbally, bowing their heads in respect as Flynn moved past hem. Others wanted to give them various items they had, a good luck charm, a handful of credits. He declined each and every one of them. Not out of disrespect, but for the respect of what the tiny items meant to the various civilians. Hope was a powerful tool and was usually embodied in an item, a charm, credits, a photo and even a rifle. Yet Hope was also psychological and thus, easily broken. He had to keep the fragile Hope intact until the last second.

At the end of the group, Samantha and Natsura were sitting on opposite ends of the metal tracks. Natsura was giving Samantha some pointers in holding the weapon along with other basic training things. They both looked up to him with a smile and stood up, weapons at the ready.

"So what's the plan?" Samantha asked. An eager smile was plastered on her face, a splatter of blood on her cheek from the earlier fray.

"We keep moving forward. We don't have a lot of time left to get to the Rendezvous point." Flynn stated simply while checking over his supplies. He was running dangerously low on thermal clips with his Predator's current clip already up to half capacity and only two in reserve he was going to be praying to Lady Luck through the entire run through the tunnels not to encounter any enemies. "Get everyone on their feet and ready to move out."

"Got it." Natsura and Samantha said in unison before running past him to help with the others, checking with the volunteers that they were alright, checking over their weapons for them if they were confused.

**35 minutes remaining**

Even with thick concrete, steel reinforcement and dirt separating the group from destruction on the surface they could all hear the sounds of the Reapers monstrous roar. It was something that was out of the nightmare made manifest. The sound of water dripping through the cracks of the underground ceiling echoed endlessly around the group of people.

Flynn and Natsura took the lead of the group with the beds, doctors and volunteers behind them. The volunteers with the weapons were on either side of the beds. Samantha brought up the rear on her own. No-one exchanged any words during the journey down the dark tunnels. The disused train system showed signs of rust and disrepair, the rails had started to crack in various places and a line of old train carriages stood tall and proud as a testament to the old mode of transportation.

"Couldn't we use them to get through the tunnels quicker?" Natsura asked Flynn, pointing her Argus in the direction of the carriages.

"Already thought of that." Flynn replied his eyes boring ahead into the darkened tunnels. His omni-tool flared into life as he checked the map of the tunnels to make sure he hadn't overshot the exit they needed to take. "We'd have to try and get the power routed back to the old tunnels if the old system hadn't been cut off from the newer ones. And then we'd have to rely on luck that the lines hadn't fallen into such disrepair that it would be hazardous to use." He shook his head solemnly. "And who knows what the Reapers can do, for all we know they can detect power useage or some god forsaken ability. When it comes to them, the impossible seems possible."

Natsura bowed her head and shook her head. "Yeah…it does doesn't it?"

Flynn looked over to his comrade and caught her eyes for a moment. He immediately knew that look, the way that the eyes showed the amount of pain she was going through emotionally. "Were you and Ash close?"

Natsura looked up to him for a moment and then glanced ahead into the darkness. "We were just partners out of a hat during basic training during the Geth uprising and Sovereign. We went on a few missions together and had shore leave as well…" She giggled a little as a small smile crept at the corner of her mouth. "Despite the rules and regs he proposed to me a few years later," she brought up a gloved hand and showed it out to him. A single golden ring occupied her ring finger; it glinted a little in the dim light. "I know he'll be alright but…"

"You're still worried about him aren't you?" Flynn finished her sentence for her. He nodded knowingly and smiled. "He'll be fine. They say that Love is a powerful weapon…better than a rifle. Hold onto that hope Natsura…it'll give you strength." He muttered in a sageful tone of voice, his hands gripped his Mattock tightly as his mind went back to his Sister. He could remember her bright, aqua coloured hair that was affected due to Exzo exposure at a young age. He could remember pacing around the Alliance medical centre while she was implanted with the L5x implant and he could even remember turning down a promotion to stay in the same squad as her.

"You sound like you know what you're talking about. From experience?" She enquired quietly.

Flynn glanced over at Natsura and then nodded slightly. "My sister. Her life was claimed by the Geth when they first attacked Eden Prime. No matter what happened…I swore that I would have protected her no matter how many bullets slammed into my body or how many bones I had broken and yet still in the end…" The silence stretched out as he trailed off, the footsteps and moveable beds being the only source of noise.

"I'm sorry. You speak of her fondly." Natsura commented. She looked at the ground for a moment and then up at Flynn. "How much further?"

Flynn looked at his omni-tool again and checked the map. "Another ten minutes till we reach the exit point, then a further five to get back to the surface. If our luck holds we'll have plenty of time to reach the Spaceport and then we can get you all out of here." He smiled and looked at Natsura, "I want an invite to the wedding."

Natsura couldn't help but let a loud giggle emit from her mouth. "Deal."

**25 minutes remaining**

"This is going to be…problematic." Samantha muttered while she stood next to Flynn in-front of a large wall of rock and rubble. Piles upon piles of rock, concrete and metal barred their intended pathway. She scratched the back of her head and looked up. "I guess we can't climb up to the surface?"

Flynn nodded his hand on his chin in thought, "You guess right. No-one gets left behind Sam." He followed her gaze upwards a little and pondered if it was possible to get the beds up to the surface too. The idea was dismissed as it would have only been possible with biotics. He walked back to where the group had decided to stop and next to Natsura who was busy examining the maps they had. "Please tell me you got good news."

Natsura sighed and shrugged. "'fraid not. The nearest exit point is a five minute walk back and then another ten to get outside. It would then take us another twenty minutes to get to the landing zone." Her finger gently touched the omni-tool overlay, a red line following the finger movement. "We could probably make it if we double timed it but these people are exhausted…they need rest."

Flynn glanced over at the group. Many of the patients on the bed looked like death and the doctors and volunteers looked equally as worn out, handing out water between themselves. He growled in annoyance and felt his hand curl into a fist. Had he made another fatal mistake that would cost more than one life? "We rest for five minutes and then we step it up a gear." Flynn announced loudly to the group. Without waiting for a response he took up a seat on a flat piece of rubble and let out a lengthy sigh, his mattock perched next to him. He was doing so well and then this gets dropped onto him. Could he really push everyone to move as quickly as possible to get out of here? They weren't trained as hard as he was, pushed to go above and beyond his physical and mental limitations.

Samantha sat down next to him, her Avenger on her knees. "Thinking about what to do next?" Her leg's swung back and forth, her heels tapping the stone and with each kick, sending out a tiny echo.

Flynn shook his head. "Nah. I already know what to do next, but it's more along the lines of if we can do it. These people are exhausted and aren't military trained to push past their exhaustion." He scratched the back of his head with a frustrated sigh. "Nothing ever goes right when I'm in charge."

Samantha looked up to the soldier for a moment, looking at his posture. His eyes showed defeat and pain, like he had already given up. She leaned up and placed a dry kiss on his cheek, a smile curling at the edge of her lips. "You'll get us out of here. I believe in you."

Flynn blushed and chuckled a little. "Nice to know someone does." He leaned back a little on his hands, taking in the view of the group. Complete strangers were helping each other out; handing out water canisters to those who needed it, ripping up loafs of bread to share out. It was almost like the scene back on Eden Prime…

A sudden tremor brought him back to reality. The ground shook and loose stones and rubble from the ceiling above them fell to the ground. Everyone who had a weapon had picked it up and ran over to Flynn, looking over to him for guidance. He suddenly felt like the centre of attention. "Make sure all of the wounded patients are okay to move."

He was about to issue extra orders but a sudden roar stopped him cold. It wasn't a roar like the Reapers; it was more sinister and stronger than that. He tried to place the source of the noise but he couldn't. The faceless entity roared again and this time Flynn heard it…from beyond the rubble. "Move everyone away from the rubble now!" He shouted and ran forward to assist in the moving of the beds. He gripped the metal rods of one of them and with a heavy push, wheeled it away from the rubble and then ran to get the next one when another tremor shook the ground, following by a loud bash.

"Whatever it is, it's trying to get through!" Natsura shouted over the commotion and took up a position next to Flynn, aiming her Argus at the rubble pile. Flynn followed suit with his Mattock, the other volunteers with weapons falling in behind them and all pointing at the rubble. "Any ideas?"

"Could be a reaper unit using explosives or one of the huge ships blasting their way through for the ground troops" Flynn summarised. He could feel the vibrations in his stomach as whatever monstrosity continued to plough its way through the rubble. He gritted his teeth in anticipation and his finger tightened around the trigger of his Mattock. "Sam, get everyone out of here and to the LZ!"

"I'm not going anywhere!" Sam shouted over the noise of the falling rubble and roaring. "You saved my life, now it's my turn to repay the favour." She shot him a toothy grin and stood firm next to his left.

Flynn was about to reply to her when the wall of rubble exploded, rocks and metal flew in all directions at the group. "Get down!" He yelled and jumped on top of Samantha, shielding her from the on-coming debris. He yelled loudly as something impacted his back and forced him forward, rolling over and over with Samantha tightly in his grip and soon came to a stop.

"Flynn! Are yo-" Samantha started to say.

"I-I'm fine" He stood up and looked around for his Mattock. He found it lying nearby and picked it up and looked over to the rubble wall and gasped in surprise.

A large, brute like life-form was standing in-front of the recently destroyed wall. It's mutated Turian like head examining the group slowly as if looking for the best target for its large oversized claw. Its head connected to its body by a large, flexible metallic neck. Its body was large and bulky, almost like a Krogan. It had armour plating around its shoulders and other body parts. Its devil like eyes homing in on Flynn and Samantha, it let out a roar and then charged forward, its strong synthetic legs propelling it along at great speeds, its deadly claw outstretched ready to deliver the fatal blow.

"Move!" Flynn shouted and pushed Samantha to the side just in-time as the claw came swinging around. The large metal claw bludgeoned him in the stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs. Through sheer willpower, he gripped to whatever he could on the claw and felt the air rush by as the large brute attempted to shake him off. With a grunt of effort he lifted the Mattock and filled the thermal clip by rapidly firing into its face.

Each bullet punched a hole into the Brute's face. After thirteen shorts it howled in a mixture of rage and pain and slammed Flynn into a nearby wall. Growling harshly as its prey slipped from its claw and slumped to the ground in a heap. It let out a satisfying grunt and lifted its metal claw for the final strike.

"Leave him alone!" Samantha shouted from behind the brute and fired at its back, each bullet bouncing off from its armoured hide. She threw herself at the floor when the claw swung about, aiming for her stomach. A shot of pain shot down her back from her injury but she forced herself to ignore the pain. If Flynn could do it then she would for his sake.

Natsura took the distraction and run up at the brute and hopping onto its back and placing the Argus's barrel at point-blank at the brute's spine and continually fired into it while trying to keep her balance on top of the squirming brute. She jumped off from it and in the same motion powered up a grenade and planted it on its forehead. She slid forward and covered up Samantha as best when an explosion rang out. Bits of debris, metal and organic were flung in all directions. "Everyone alright?"

Various 'yeah' and 'I'm alright' rang out amongst the group followed by a large heavy thud of the monsters body hitting the floor.

"What about Flynn?" Samantha asked and ran over to him the second Natsura had moved back from her. She kneeled down next to him and shook him gently. "Flynn? You alright?"

"ugh…when you stop shaking me I might get my bearings…" He groaned and slowly stood up. A gloved hand rested along the wall. He let out a throaty cough and a splatter of blood hit the floor. "Think I might have a broken rib," He let out a hiss of pain "or several." His omni-tool lit up on his other arm. "Sam, you mind?"

"S-Sure." She stepped forward and pressed a few buttons on the omni-tool, releasing an application of medi-gel into Flynn's system. "And…thank you for saving me again."

"Yeah well," He staggered forward and looked solemnly at his Mattock. The weapon had taken the brunt of the attack and had snapped in two. The rifle had saved his ass more times than he could remember "You can pay me back by taking me to dinner and buying me a drink." He glanced over to where the large monster had appeared and as luck would have it, it had carved a hole right through rubble. "Get everyone moving. The sooner we can get to the spaceport the sooner I can have a rest."

Natsura nodded and patted him on the back. "Nice to see you're a tough son of a bitch" She walked off ahead of him along with Samantha, the doctors and the other volunteers.

Flynn watched them leave for a moment before going over to the corpse of the Brute. Whatever had happened while he was unconscious was evident; someone had blown off the Brutes head. A sort of green/blue mixture oozed from its neck, He kicked the flesh that wasn't covered up by the metal plates and felt a strong resistance from it. It was almost as strong as a Krogan's skin. He then ran his hand against the claw and tapped it gently. He couldn't place what sort of material it was. It was definitely not human-made and that much was obvious but the thing disgusted him…the reapers disgusted him. They turned innocent species into weapons of war. Why did no-one listen to Shepard sooner? Why would a holder of the Star of Terra, combat veteran and friend of almost every species in galactic space make up such a thing?

"Flynn?" Samantha asked him from the formed hole.

"I'm fine." He walked away from the brute and took out his Viper. It was the only weapon he had now apart from his predator and omni-blade, both would do nothing if they came across another Brute.

**10 minutes remaining**

"Finally glad to be at the end of this deathtrap!" Natsura sighed loudly as they started to climb the steps from the exit of the underground. It was starting to get dark now, the dun just setting over the horizon a deep, orange glow appearing just beyond the top of the buildings.

"Maybe…but personally I preferred it down there…less chance of laser beams" Samantha commented sarcastically and walked past Natsura with a smile, her rifle slung over her shoulder. She reached the top and stopped. Her hands fell to her sides and the rifle dropped to the floor with a clatter. "Oh…my…"

"Sam?" Flynn ran up the stairs and next to Samantha to see what she had found. He too let out a gasp.

The entire place looked like something out of an old war film. Bodies littered the floor left right and centre, both of the human alliance and of the Reaper forces. Discarded clips and blood completed the scene. In the background the Reapers continued their rampage, their monstrous roar almost sounding like laughter to everyone.

"Get everyone willing to help…we move the bodies and give them a deserved funeral, make sure no dog-tags are left behind." Flynn ordered quietly to Natsura.

"On it." She turned around and waved to the others and indicated to help out. A few of the volunteers move onwards past them and started to search the bodies for the dog-tags and moving them to one side, occasionally kicking or punching the corpses or the Husks and Cannibals.

"Are we sure we can waste time with this?" Samantha asked Flynn quietly.

"We always have time for comrades and the people who sacrificed their lives the save those that cannot defend themselves." Flynn muttered back to her, he turned his face so that he was looking at her with a single eye. "I understand what you mean but before this war turns ugly and the list of those MIA grows to an unbelievable size. Every family that can be notified about their death can at least close the book and mourn and not have to subject themselves to a false hope."

"Flynn…"

He shook his head and brought a gloved hand up to his eyes to wipe the tears that were forming away before they showed. Even now he could feel that pain on hoping that Karin were okay and that she would get up and nothing would have had happened to her. He could remember pacing back and forth in the hospital waiting area, awaiting the news that she was going to make a full recovery. "Go make sure everyone is alright for me. We'll move in a few minutes."

Samantha nodded and went down the steps, helping the volunteers that stayed with the beds to carry them up carefully.

Flynn strode forward onto the pavement and then the roads, walking up to the increasing pile of corpses that everyone was contributing to, He stood in-front of it and let out a sigh. He heard something jingle behind him and turned to look at Natsura, holding a green bag which he assumed were full of dog-tags. "Good job. Keep hold of them for me and do me a favour…make sure this turns into a funeral pyre…if the Reapers used their bodies to make husks I'll personally dismantle one myself."

**VVVV**

Humanity has a natural instinct to survive through trials. In-fact probably every species has a subconsciousness that forces it to go above and beyond to achieve that one thing. Only the most strongest of willpower could overcome that strong natural desire to what is right. A normal person may simply run away if something grotesque was coming at them. Soldiers like Flynn and Natsura trained themselves to ignore that impulse so they and hundreds of other untold heroes could do one thing:

To save as many souls as humanly possible.


	6. The End Run

**The End Run.**

Flynn looked at the large fire with lazy eyes. His head slightly bowed in respect to his deceased comrades. He may not have known them personally but each and every one of them were united under the banner of the Alliance Military. The smell of burnt flesh eventually reached his nostrils and he had to force himself to move away from the funeral pyre. The pyre was all too reminiscent of the time they did the same with Karin. He felt dizzy from the memories and the smell and decided to take a seat on a ruined pillar nearby.

"Flynn?" A soothing voice spoke up next to him. Samantha took a seat next to him. She glanced at his darkened, hazel eyes. She took note at the bags that appeared under his eyes, his dirtied and bloodied face. She placed a hand on top of his gloved hand.

Flynn jumped at the contact and looked at the hand, following the arm up to Samantha's eyes. Her bright eyes…why did they remind him of Karin so much? Why did Samantha remind him so much of his sister he knew was dead? He sighed and leaned back a little, not knowing what to say. "I'm only in my mid-twenties Sam and already I feel way too old for this…" He sat forward and stared straight at the burning bonfire fuelled by dead flesh. "I know I was like this earlier back down in the underground…but seeing this…it just makes me doubt everything. Can I really get everyone to safety?"

Samantha gripped his hand tightly and leaned closer to him, her violet eyes glaring at him. "You need to stop doubting yourself! You got us this far, you fought of those monsters to get us this far, hell you took a massive claw-punch to the stomach just to save me. You're remarkably strong willed Flynn," She kissed his forehead affectionately before sitting beck down next to him. "Everyone here owes you a lot. Now let's finish this and get you some deserved R and R..." She stood up and held out a hand for him to take, a sweet smile spread across her face.

Flynn looked up at her for a moment and then took of her hand and stood up. "Thanks Sam." He glanced over to the fire and then picked up his rifle. _I won't let anyone die again…not if I have a say in it._

**10 minutes remaining **

"_How are you doing Flynn?"_

"Just, ah, peachy." Flynn grumbled while he was climbing the wreckage of a tower of flats. The spaceport was only a straight shot from where they had exited from. He had deemed it best to take up a vantage point that would give him a clear line of sight to cover the civilians that he had left with Natsura and Samantha. He jumped up and grabbed the end of some damaged floorboards and forced himself to climb up them. His ribs flared with pain while he forced himself up. When he eventually pulled himself up he laid on the floor to catch his breath. A few seconds later and he placed his Viper on the window and sorted out his scope. "I'm all set up. Get everyone ready to move." Flynn reached down to his omni-tool and switched channels to contact Roxy. "Rox, ya there?"

"_Flynn! I was starting to get worried. You're cutting this a little close like usual aren't you?" _

"You know me, I'm a stylist first, a soldier second. Listen I'm in some destroyed flats, about south of your position, twenty floors up. A group of civilians and a couple of soldiers are going to be coming from the east for evacuation. We also got a number of critically injured persons we had to move from the hospital, switch over to frequency alpha-gamma-fox-one-nine."

"_Got it, switching over now." _

Flynn switched again and waited for a few seconds before speaking up, "Alright Natsura and Samantha. Roxy knows you're coming from the east. The second I tell you to get moving to the evacuation point you get everyone to haul ass and not to stop for anything. We got you covered."

"_Understood. How do you plan on getting to us before the shuttles come to pick us up?" _Samantha enquired.

"Easy. I'll either have to quickly run down and get to the point, or if I'm lucky, I'll find some cable or rope and rappel down." Flynn explained while adjusting the scope. He could make out the faces on Samantha and Natsura glancing over to the flat he was setting up in.

"_You don't need to worry about Flynn. He always has a back-up plan or two." _Roxy assured everyone with a slight giggle. _"It's a shame he's not like that when it comes to day to day live."_

"That was slightly harsh Roxy. Alright Samantha, Natsura get moving, we got you covered." Flynn spoke and shuffled a little to get comfortable and watched through the scope as the group had started to move towards the evacuation point. He knew he was going to do his job to cover everyone, but inside of him, he felt a pit of emptiness. He didn't know what the feeling was or where it came from. He forced himself back into reality and looked down the scope. He blinked for a moment then looked down the scope. "Hey Nat…I don't believe this, but I think I see Ash."

"_What? Where?" _Natsura exclaimed on the other end of the line.

"Down the next junction to your left. Something is off though…he's just standing in the middle of the road." He explained, He zoomed in further so he could examine Ash's face. It looked vacant, like he was out of it. His eyes, they were bright…brighter than anything considered normal, and then he saw it, a weird ocular pattern with his iris. "Nat…Ash wasn't implanted with anything was he?"

"_No. Why?" _

"…because he has some now…I think he's been indoctrinated…" He muttered slowly, he looked out of his scope and let out an audible gasp. Hundreds of husks and cannibals were streaming out of the buildings behind Ash and headed straight for the group. "Shit! Natsura move your ass! Roxy, cover them! Large enemy numbers are heading towards the group!" Flynn looked down the scope and rapidly continued to fire, one shot per husk, systematically shooting one after the other. He switched target's over to the Cannibals. They were the ones that would pose a threat. If the others could gun down the Husks then maybe they could all get out.

"_What makes you think he's indoctrinated?"_ Natsura cried out over the sound of her Argus rifle.

"Implants take a few hours up to a week to implant and recover from. Ash has had that done before we broke up which was roughly half an hour ago. The only logical explanation would be Reapers. They are more technological advanced then we are." Flynn deduced. A hiss of steam blew in his face and a curse word flew from his mouth just as quick as he slammed a fresh clip in. "I'm sorry Nat! But it's the only logical thing that makes sense!" Another burst of shots burst out from his Viper and into his intended targets.

"_But…You have to be lying! We were going to get married and go away on a honeymoon and have a baby girl called Sarah or a little boy called Alex!" _She continued to cry of the communication channel.

A second hiss of steam issued from his Viper annoyingly. "Nat, you have to be strong! You have to get everyone through to the shuttles!"

"_Nat, Listen to me! We know it's hard. Flynn lost his sister. We all know how it feels! You can mourn later but right now we all have a job to do!" _Roxy shouted over the channel.

"_But he's not dead he's right he-!" _Her voice stopped abruptly which was followed by a gasp.

Flynn quickly moved the scope and saw in horror as Ash was gripping Natsura by the throat, choking the life out of her body. He froze as the scope went over Ash's head and for a moment, his finger curled around the trigger. He had a single shot left; he could save Natsura but kill her partner and lover…could he really shoot someone's reason for living to save them?

If it was Karin…no he couldn't.

He moved the scope and slowed his breathing. He pulled back on his knowledge during his marksmanship training. Still you're breathing. Pull on the trigger gently and visualise the shot and the impact you want. He moved over to Ash's arm and fired the shot. With bated breath, the shot seemed to move in slow motion as the bullet punched through Ash's shield and blew a chunky hole in his fore-arm, forcing him to drop Nat. "Roxy get that guy of Nat now! I'm coming down to you!"

"_Got it!" _

Flynn stood up and placed his Viper on his back and quickly scanned the room around him. He found some electrical cable nearby and he ripped it from its boards and checked its length before poking his head out and seeing the distance. It was a long drop and the cable wouldn't extend all the way down. The tower was on a slight slant before dropping into a straight drop. A single lamppost hang nearby, if he could manage it he could use the wiring as a sort of whip. If he didn't, he's break both his legs.

Another scream shot down his ear as Natsura was picked up a second time. _"Flynn, whatever you're doing, hurry it up! Biotics aren't taking this guy out!" _

Flynn moved to edge of the window and sat on the ledge, his feet dangling into nothingness. He hyperventilated for a moment. Heights weren't his strong points. He was fine if he didn't think about but now that he was looking down…he was very high up. "Heaven or Hell…" He muttered and pushed himself off. He felt the wind rush past and the rubble made his rider bumpier. Every second his descent brought him closer to the ground. His eyes were focused on the lamppost, the wire griped firmly in his hand. He could hear gunfire in the distance and then the time came. With all his might he threw the wire at the post and prayed that it'd wrap around enough. He felt the wire wrap around a few times and connect. He swung from the building and felt the grip in his hand waver and he plummeted to the ground. He landed on a wooden-stand and rolled off the rood and onto the pavement. His body felt awash in pain and for a moment, he wanted to sleep, to do nothing but forget everything.

"_Flynn? Flynn we need you!" _

Flynn groaned in pain and rolled over onto all fours. He still needed to help Natsura…he had promised Samantha a date and drink. He couldn't give up. Not now. He stood up and started to jog, which then turned into a full on run.

**6 minutes remaining **

Despite the pain he was in, it took Flynn only a minute to reach the scene. The battle was in full scale. He could make out the signs of a resistance at the spaceport, indicating that the others had managed to get to where they are. Ash was standing over Natsura, a pistol pointed to her forehead as he seemingly struggled to pull the trigger. His hands shook as he glanced at the woman before him. In a rage he bolted up the street and collided into Ash. The two tumbled over and over for a moment, bullets, biotic and tech attacks whizzed by their heads as they struggled to fight over the pistol.

"Damnit Ash! Why'd you go and get indoctrinated!" Flynn shouted and threw a punch at Ash's cheek. His knuckles punched something hard and solid. His entire face was augmented! With a growl he curled his hand and punched again, ignoring the feeling that his fingers were going to be dislodged out of their sockets if he kept punching.

Ash didn't say a word as he kicked off Flynn. He quickly recovered and picked him up and planted an augmented punch to Flynn's gut.

Flynn coughed out a pool of blood. His vision was blurred and the only thing his mind would register is the intense pain in his stomach. A second punch intensified the pain. He forced his body to respond to his will as his foot pushed Ash away from him. He lazily moved a hand over to his omni-tool and the omni-blade lit up into life, hovering away from his arm. He stood up and swayed on the spot as his vision sorted itself out.

Ash was doing the same, his own omni-tool glowing with life and he stood with a confidence that was just saying 'you can't win'.

"_Flynn Please don't! We can snap him out of it!" _Natsura cried over the radio.

Flynn growled and looked at Ash for a moment. He had to remember why he was here, fighting against Ash in the middle of a war-zone. His free-hand went over to his Predator as he sized up his opponent. He had no idea to the extent of the enhancements the Reapers had implemented. He knew it couldn't be extensive as it was only a short period of time to enhance him. He took a step forward and ducked as a Husk lunged for him. He had forgotten about the other enemies. "Roxy, I need you to keep these things off me for a few moments."

"_What are you going to do?"_

"I'm going to save everyone." He flexed his blade arm for a moment and rushed at Ash. If he could get close enough he may be able to short-circuit the enhancements and knock him out. Blade clashed against blade as the two combatants fought in the middle of the battlefield. Flynn bent backwards as the Ash swiped for his neck. His Predator swung around as another shot bit into a nearby husk. He swerved on the spot to avoid a blade to the stomach and fired a second shot at another husk. His blade arm swung around and caught Ash's counter swing as his blade came down. Flynn was forced onto one knee through Ash's brute strength.

Flynn wasn't going to win this through head on attacks. Ash was physically enhanced in every way possible while he was battered and broken. If he was going to win, he'd have to try and outsmart him. He kicked him back far enough for him to stand back up and sized Ash up. He wasn't sure how he was going to knock him out. He noted Ash's bleeding arm from his earlier sniper shot. Pain was still a human concept. He smiled as an idea formed in his mind. The human will would break the indoctrination, he only needed to bring it out.

"_Flynn you got three minutes! Hurry up!" _Samantha yelled in his ear.

Flynn glanced over to the landing zone. Everyone was waiting for him to finish. He ran forward. A husk fell dead in-front of him and he leapt over it with ease. He side-stepped Ash's extended blade and felt the super-heated blade pierce his armour and graze his skin. He ignored the pain and in a single-motion took out his Viper and put all of his energy into the swing.

The weapon-turned-club slammed into Ash's wound. The weapon smashed in half from the impact of the strengthened enhancements, pieces of the faithful weapon scattered everywhere and hit Flynn in the face, causing blood to shed in various places.

Ash howled in pain as some of the shrapnel from the weapon buried itself in the wound. He fell onto his knees and gripped the arm as blood poured from the wound.

Flynn stood up and interlocked his fingers together to make a singular fist and swung it at the side of Ash's face, knocking him out cold. He couldn't waste a second dwelling on the minor victory. He gripped Ash under the arms and started to drag him over to the group. He watched in shock as a line of Cannibals took up a position to his left and aimed their rifles at him and Ash. "Shit!" He acted without thinking, he flung himself ontop of Ash and slammed his free hand onto his Omni-tool. His shields flared into life as they started to over-charge, repelling the large amount of projectiles that would end his life. He bore his teeth as he glanced at his visor data, telling him how long the over-charge would last.

"Take them out! Form a perimeter around them!" Roxy shouted as she launched a tech fire burst at one of the Cannibals, firing her Valkyrie in twin bursts. Samantha followed up behind her followed by a number of volunteers.

Flynn smiled and quickly grabbed Ash's arms and someone grabbed his legs and together they had moved him into the evacuation zone. _I've done it…_ "Get some bindings and make sure they're secure on him. If he wakes up, knock him out." He ordered to a nearby soldier.

Roxy jumped over the cover and pressed herself to the wall as a hail of bullets slammed at her previous position. "Damn Flynn…you know how to make an entrance." She smiled and waited for the shooting to subside before flinging herself at him and hugging him tightly. "I'm glad you're okay."

Flynn smiled and nodded. "Same here. You guys look like you were doing just fine without me." He smiled smugly as he settled next to Roxy near the cover point and Samantha.

"Well you know. Special Forces and all. Had to take charge if we wanted to survive. Shuttles should be here at any minute Flynn. We need to get everyone ready to move." Roxy explained, glancing to her omni-tool that was counting down on a timer.

Flynn nodded and looked over to Samantha. "How're you holding up?" He looked over to Natsura who was gently stroking Ash's dirt ridden hair.

"All things considered, I've been better," She muttered. Her hand was around her stomach as a patch of red started to stain her clothes.

"You reopened the wound!" Flynn couldn't care less for his own safety. He scooped up Samantha and walked down the man-made barrier towards the space-port where the doctors and volunteers were sorting out people for evacuation. "I told you to take it easy!"

Samantha only giggled and placed her head on his chest piece. "I know but I watched you sacrifice so much for strangers…you could say I was inspired."

He rounded the corner and placed her on a smooth piece of rubble and looked at the wound. It was nothing serious but it was bleeding profusely. "I need a doctor over here!" He shouted as much as his dry throat would let him. His hands were putting pressure on the wound but every part of him felt sore. "Anyone? Please!"

He heard someone rush to his side but he didn't take notice. The voice of the person behind him was drowned out by a monstrous growl that vibrated his insides sickeningly. The ground shook underneath his feet, followed by the loud crashing of something hitting the ground. The sound of a laser firing rang in his ears, followed by the crashing of buildings and then another roar. Around the corner a large black leg came into view.

"My god…" Flynn muttered as he watched the leg lift up and crashed down into the ground. The Reaper was massive in size. "No wonder the fleet was decimated. How did Shepard fight these things?" He looked down at Samantha who was now drifting in and out of consciousness. He had to get everyone on the shuttles now.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, behind him a group of blue Alliance shuttles came into view from behind the ruined buildings. The group slowly descended and landed on a clear space. A handful of Alliance soldiers piled out of the shuttles and looked around, presumably for the one in charge.

He tapped the doctor on the shoulder. "Make sure she's ready to move." He didn't wait for a response. He ran towards the group, looking behind him at the giant Reaper. At a guess they have five minutes. He approached the lead group and quickly shook hands. "Flynn Silvers, Special Forces. Priority goes to the wounded and the patients on the beds load them all on one shuttle and get that out of here ASAP." He ordered.

"Sir!" The soldier saluted. "Jackson, Fenix. Help load the civilians onto the shuttle. Everyone else is to hold the enemy back!"

Flynn nodded and jogged with Jackson and Fenix towards the group of Civilians. "Everyone is here." He turned to the group of people that were looking up at him. "These guys are going to help you get onto the shuttles. Stay low and listen to them." He smiled and patted the closest person on the shoulder. "Drinks are on me when we get to a space station." He grabbed a nearby Avenger Rifle from someone and ran up to where Roxy and the others were. Many of them had resorted to using tech attacks. One person was using a string of biotic abilities to set off a line of explosions they had set up during the battle. "Evacuation is under-way. About two minutes till everyone is safe." He looked up and over the cover at the Reaper leg. It seemed to have stopped moving for a moment…maybe to deploy more troops, he wasn't sure.

"Good. I've had enough of this place to last a life-time." Roxy muttered and blindly through a fire-tech attack over the cover. "I'll think I'll try some of that Krogan Ale I've heard so much about."

Flynn chuckled and popped up from his cover. He fired a few bursts from his rifle before sitting back down as his cover was peppered with bullets. "That stuff will knock you on your ass if you're not careful."

"Yeah well, After all this I couldn't care less if I woke up with a killer hangover from too much drinking." Roxy shrugged and smiled as she watched some of the civilians get up and make a run for the Shuttles. "This is taking too long, we're running out of time and ammo and the enemy is getting ever closer." Roxy glanced up over her cover and ducked down when a bullet pinged just inches from her eye.

"They can only go as fast as they can." Flynn muttered quietly to her and sighed. His whole body went limp and he smiled a little. "I did it…"

"It's not over yet Flynn!" Roxy shouted and flung a series of ice and fire tech attacks over the cover. "We got a ton of husks incoming! We can't get them all before they get here."

Flynn looked up and saw the sea of husks pour around the corner. Each one bore no difference from the other. It was a sea of faceless enemies and they could have been human for all he knew. He fired until the rifle hissed in his face and he threw the weapon at the group, the rifle hitting one square on the head. "We're holding this line! Not a single husk gets past us!" He shouted as his omni blade shimmered into existence at his side.

Roxy smile and nodded, standing up next to him. He own omni-tool switched on; instead it wasn't a blade but more of a disc on the back of her hand. It spun around at a high speed and suddenly flames burst into existence and faded when the disc slowed down. "You heard him. Hold the line!"

Flynn smiled and stood firm as the sea of Husks grew ever closer. Roxy and her biotic friend were launching attacks in a bid to reduce the oncoming numbers. He stabbed forward at a husk that ran straight for him. The blade stuck through its skull. It fell back, taking the blade with it forcing Flynn to conjure up a second blade and slashed at the neck at a second husk. All around him he could hear fire burning flesh, ice shattering the bodies it covered. He could hear the grunts of the soldiers around him as they all engaged the horde of Reaper forces.

Behind him he heard the sound of a shuttle over-burning it's thrusters to lift from the ground. One of the blue shuttles turned as it lifted and shot out over the ruined city before slowly rising up and through the sky.

Flynn felt a small sense of pride build up in his heart. He had managed to save some people. He ducked under a Husk and picked it up and slammed it on the ground and then slammed his boot down on its head, blood and synthetic parts splattered in all directions. His blade fell upon a forth husk and a fifth was victim to his last shot of his Predator. He felt a pair of claws at his back, scratching through his armour with ease and drawing blood. The blow forced him to the ground with the husk ontop. The feeling was quickly replaced by something cold and he could gear the flesh being frozen and then shattered, the icy shards falling onto his exposed wounds causing a twitch of pain as some dug into the wounds.

"Careful Flynn, we're not out of the woods yet." Roxy helped him up to his feet and started to escort him to the landing zone. "Everyone fall back! Shuttles are waiting!" She yelled.

"Samantha? Natsura?" Flynn asked wearily. All of a sudden all the sores and pains decided to come back. His legs felt like led and his ribs flared in pain as the medi-gel started to wear off.

"Natsura was on the transport with Ash. Not so sure about Samantha." Roxy replied. She smiled a little and looked at him with a knowing smile. "So you and Samantha eh?"

Flynn had enough strength to look up at Roxy with a surprised look. "W-What about her?"

"I've seen the way you look at her. No-one would have gone through hell and back just for some random stranger they have found while evading the enemy." Roxy stated and smirked. "Samantha filled me when while you were moving from the sniper nest."

Flynn rolled his eyes. "Of course she would. For too long I didn't have a proper reason to fight or life Roxy. With Samantha I feel like I have that reason again." He smiled weakly but warmly. He stood up on his own accord, shrugging off Roxy politely. "I'm willing to go through hell again." He turned to her. "Hold the line for me. I'm going to check on Sam."

Roxy smiled and saluted. "Yes sir."

Flynn smiled and slowly limped from Roxy to where he had left Samantha with the doctor. She sat on the piece of rubble. Humming a tune quietly to herself and looked at the sky. She looked over to Flynn with a small smile. "Everything is going well isn't it?" She stated plainly.

Flynn nodded and took a seat next to her and let out a weary sigh. "You've probably just jinxed us ya know." He chuckled weakly. "Why didn't you get on the transport?" He watched as the second of the group of transports fled the scene, also escaping from the hell of the husks. "Or that one for that matter…"

"I'm not leaving you." She smiled warmly and looked at his hazel eyes. "If I left you here and you didn't make it…I don't know what I'd do."

"Sam…" He placed his hands on her shoulders and stared at her violet eyes. "If you were killed here I'd never be able to forgive myself. You have a bright future ahead of you. We're going to win this war and rebuild the Earth and then you go back to your life."

She shook her hand and grinned. "I don't want that life anymore. Not since I met you. You inspired me Flynn. You're fighting against the gods themselves to do what you need to do. I can't just sit around and watch as the people that are defending me and do nothing." She muttered and slowly stood up. "Now that you're here…shall we?" She held out a hand and smiled.

Flynn smiled and took her arm and wrapped it around the back of his neck and escorted her to the transport shuttles. Already the rest of the soldiers were falling back towards them, Roxy was at the lead, pushing back the husks as they retreated. He put Samantha in the transport and helped her onto a seat before moving back and helping the others into the transport. "Come on Roxy!"

She continued to walk back, throwing ice and fire in all directions when a husk got the jump on her and slashed at her stomach. She was thrown on her back but she kicked it off her. A second jumped onto her and stabbed its claws into her arm, giving her no chance to get up. "Just go! Leave me!"

Flynn growled and jumped down from the shuttle. "Pilot take off!" He summoned his blade and kicked the husk from Roxy while slicing wildly at the others, trying to make some room for her to get up. "Come on Roxy!" He helped her up and dragged her back. A single shot rang out from behind him. He glanced behind him and saw Samantha standing in the doorway, an Avenger rifle in her arms. He smiled and continued to drag her as Samantha provided sparse cover fire. With a heave the two of them dragged Roxy onto the shuttle just as it started to gain altitude. Putting all of his strength into his legs, he jumped up and pulled himself in while the door closed.

"I…can't believe we made it." Someone muttered quietly. Everyone froze when they heard a monstrous roar and everyone instantly knew what it meant.

"Everyone brace!" Flynn shouted as he scrambled up to secure Roxy into a charge. He placed the buckles around her and clipped her in. Samantha clipped herself in. He then ran to the pilot and took a seat in the vacant pilot seat. "Special Forces. Not going to tell you how to do your job, but a helpful suggestion. Weave through the rubble."

"With respect sir, we need to get out of the atmosphere ASAP! We can't waste the fuel running around down here." The pilot argued. A large red laser shot over the transport, causing it to buckle slightly. An explosion sprung forth from the impact and the shuttle shot through it.

"Do it! The Reaper must have a recharge period after it fires! If we time it right we won't be shot out of the sky!" Flynn shouted. He gripped the sides of the chair tightly.

The pilot glanced at Flynn for a moment before growling a little and started to swerve around the rubble. The shuttle dipped and rose around places and the entire time the laser was impacting around them. Each shot sent the shuttle buckling a little. For a second nothing happened as the onslaught of death stopped for a brief period. "Get us out of here, now!" Flynn shouted.

The pilot pressed a handful of buttons and the shuttle shot up for the atmosphere. His stomach seemed to flutter a little as they rose higher and higher, becoming a more and bigger target for the Reapers to shot down but nothing did happen. Soon the blue of the sky gave away to the dark, black void of space. Fiery debris slowly rained down towards Earth, bits and pieces of the alliance fleet were scattered around Exosphere. They both knew that hundreds upon thousands of bodies were floating in the space. A grave that Flynn wished upon no-one; their bodies would eventually fall into Earth's orbit and burn upon re-entry and then become a black mess of muscle and bone, an unidentifiable corpse that may never be identified. He couldn't imagine what it'd be like to survive your ship exploding, only to die a cold death from either suffocation or burning upon re-entry.

Flynn smiled and patted the pilot on the shoulder. "Take us to the Citadel or a nearby spacestation. I think we could all use some R&R. Good work"

He was going to sit up and check up on Roxy and Samantha but he was too worn out. "Wake me up when we get there." He yawned and found a comfortable position on the chair before finally letting sleep take over his body.


	7. Epilogue

**2 weeks after the escape from Earth**

Flynn was waiting in the elevator that connects the Citadel to the various wards. He had come here once before with Karin but this was his first time actually exploring it. He had visited the Zakera Wards for some entertainment and drinks when he had first arrived while waiting to hear news on Roxy and Samantha. Last he heard, the pair of them were doing fine. Despite Roxy suffering several major wounds in the arteries in her arm, she had pulled through and with the advanced medical equipment in the Huerta Memorial Hospital, was undergoing physiotherapy for her arm. Samantha on the other hand was better off. The wound in her stomach was not severe despite the patch-up jobs they had to do on her when on Earth and it was a simple case of using some blood transfusions and medi-gel to seal the wound. He gripped two pairs of flowers in his arm; a bundle of violet lilies and a second bundle of roses. Roxy absolutely hated the flowers but she was so miserable the last time he had checked in with her. She hated hospitals with a passion. He felt a vibrating in his shirt pocket and took out his communicator and placed it in his ear. "Flynn Silvers speaking."

"_Flynn! Finally got a hold of you. It's Natsura. We're stuck on the Alliance Space Station in god know's what system…" _

Flynn smiled. Natsura had practically fallen off the face of the universe since she had fled the events on Earth. Enquires into her and Ash were stopped by restrictions only granted by those with the N7 designation. "Glad to hear you're fine. How's Ash doing?"

"_He's…incarcerated. The Alliance Brass isn't too keen on him when we told them what happened on Earth. Scientists are trying to study the effects on his brain now. They're hoping it'll lead to a way to protect against the indoctrination or at the least, monitor it." _

Flynn nodded to himself. "Glad to hear he's safe too…Hopefully he'll forgive me for that bullet hole in the arm." He chuckled weakly to himself as the Elevator stopped in-front of the reception area of the hospital. He stepped out of it and sighed.

"_Yeah…listen I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to get another call out like this but before anything happens…I want to thank you for everything you did that day." _

"Only doing my Job Nat. Take care of yourself ya hear." Flynn ordered in the best order-like voice he could muster.

Natsura giggled on the other end of the line. _"Yes Sir. See ya around Flynn." _The line went dead seconds later.

Flynn only shook his head and walked down to the receptionist area. He smiled at the Turian volunteer behind the desk. "I'm looking for a Samantha Valentine and Roxy Santangelo."

"One moment please." He typed something into the holographic interface and brought up a screen and examined it for a moment. "It seems they're both being checked out by the doctors now. I can page their doctors now to let them know they got a visitor."

Flynn nodded and smiled. "I'd appreciate it." He walked over to the seating area and sat down on the comfortable chairs nearby. Since they had arrived on the Citadel, he had unofficially claimed the seat as his own. It was the best view of the door where all the patients were located. Normally he'd just walk on in and talk to them while they were resting but if the doctors decided to discharge them from the Hospital, not much point from interrupting their work. He glanced out of the windows at the view that he was offered. It was truly an amazing view even if it was built by one race or another. They certainly knew how to build a view that's for sure.

He heard the door open to his side and watched as Roxy and Samantha emerged from them. Roxy was wearing her usual Alliance uniform, her arm in a white sling and a single plaster on her cheek. A weak smile was plastered on her face when the two caught the other eyes and they both waved.

Samantha wore a low-cut dark green shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. If she had any bandages or other medical things around her stomach, the shirt was loose enough that it didn't show them. She also waved and jogged/walked over to Flynn and threw her arms around his neck, almost crushing the flowers in his hands. "Roxy said you were going to come down to see us."

Flynn only chuckled and held out the bundle of flowers to the pair of them. "A little get-better quicker gift. I did consider chocolates, but then I thought that's ruin your figure."

Roxy playfully scowled and tapped him gently on the shoulder, but accepted the gift anyway. "That's thoughtful of you Flynn." She gently inhaled the scent of the violet lilies. "Any word about Earth?"

He sighed and shook his head and handed Samantha her own bundle of flowers. "It gets worse every day on the news. Every time the news centres on Earth, a higher death toll is always issued. Shepard is out trying to recruit the galaxy to fight the Reapers but the council aren't budging from saving their own hides." He whispered the last part quietly. He respected the Galactic community and the needs to save their own home worlds, but they could at least spare something. "How are you two feeling?" He asked, wanting to steer the conversation to a happier topic.

Samantha smiled. "I'm feeling better than ever. I'm worried about the things on Earth but I can't let that distract me from the now. I plan on signing up to the Alliance and helping out with information and technology and going around negotiating deals." She put the flowers in her hands and grinned. "I'm not going to sit around and do nothing. You've shown me what you can do if you have the determination."

Roxy chuckled. "Well I got a course of physio to follow through before I get back on the field. Even then I'm sticking to tech upgrades and vehicle maintenance. I've seen my fair share of combat I think. What about you?" Roxy asked.

Flynn looked at the two and then walked up to the window. He wasn't sure how he was going to answer that question but somehow…he already knew it deep within his heart. He turned and glanced at the two with a smirk. "I'm going to fight for the future. Our future. The future of those unborn and for the chance to move on." He faced Samantha and winked. "Besides. I have something worth fighting for."

Samantha looked at Flynn for a moment and felt the heat rise in her cheeks, making her blush behind the flowers he had given her.

**VVVV**

Love. Love is a powerful weapon that can be wielded by anyone with a passionate heart. Love is what forces the most stubborn of people to become that bit more stubborn to get through the fight. During any war, a handful of shoulders will hold onto their feelings for their wives, their fiancées, family, friends and even memories to help them pull through the tough times.

Flynn Silvers ultimately became Samantha's fiancée and for a few weeks they pair enjoyed the solace that the Citadel offered. It lasted till Flynn has gotten a letter of promotion stating he was promoted to the highest rank of the N Programme, the N7. The two went on to becoming a formidable duo: Samantha would provide the intelligence and fire-support and Flynn doing the hard combat. The pair went on to gather various resources for the fabled 'Crucible' project and even partook in the assault on Earth after Shepard had finally united the galactic races against the Reapers. It is currently unknown as to their current status, the pair of them believed to be MIA after Sovereign's interference during the final push to the beam.

Roxy had made a full recovery and as planned, did indeed serve with technological advances and vehicle maintenance. She was one of the bright minds that developed the technology that would allow the soldiers to monitor their comrades brain-waves in case of Indoctrination. She was the head mechanic that tuned up the Shuttles for Hammer Team to drop on Earth.

Natsura and Ashley did have a happy ending. Ashley's Indoctrination was only temporary and had stopped when his implants were surgically removed. True to his word, Flynn had forwarded a recommendation to the Special Forces for Natsura to start training as soon as it was possible, Detailing that her bravery and courage and strong will would serve the alliance well in that position.

This was simply one of many untold stories of Flynn Silvers. With time, maybe more would be found. But he was simply one man, one hero in a sea of heroes who deserve such praise for their dedication and heroic actions but each story is connected to the other. Each soldier contributed to the victory that led to the Reapers demise.

* * *

><p>And with that, the journey ends for Flynn and his comrades...for now at least. Maybe we'll pick him again again during these apparent exploits during the Reaper War and the fight against Cerberus.<br>I'd like to thank the readers who do take the time to read this (and yet not to actually drop a review sadly.)  
>Thanks again and see you around!<p> 


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